


The Lady and the Demon - A Final Fantasy VII Fairy Tale of Lucrecia & Chaos

by Razziecat (EchoThruTheWoods)



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 14:23:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9076354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoThruTheWoods/pseuds/Razziecat
Summary: She might be Sleeping Beauty, but he's no prince.





	

**Author's Note:**

> FFVII Secret Santa gift to Ravynnenevyrmore.

She remembered a time when she had no wings.  
  
The days when she was earth-bound, when she was plain Lucrecia Crescent--oh, those days were decades past! The memories stretched backward to a timeless while spent behind a frozen veil, to the moment when someone’s hand appeared out of the mist to fling a small crystal globe into her sacred pool.  
  
Sacred it was for its powers of life and death, past and present, and most of all for the souls that whispered in its depths. Dark mako, sleeping souls, her only company while she dreamed away the years wrapped in gossamer light. The intrusion of the globe into the placid waters sent ripples floating out, across the pool, until they lapped at her feet, and startled her awake.  
  
Her soft gasp struck the crystalline veil with no more force than a moth’s wing, but it was enough. The crystal shattered, shards falling with a sweet chime like distant church bells, sending Lucrecia with a splash into the pool. On hands and knees she caught herself, breathing in the cool, clean air of the cavern for the first time in….how long had it been? She had no way to know.  
  
She rose, drenched garments weighing on shaking limbs, wet hair hanging heavy on her shoulders, and made her cautious way to the shore. It was then she realized that she held something in her hand, smooth and round and tingling with power.  
  
The orb glowed white as the full moon, holding her gaze, and a voice filled her head, deep, gentle, compelling. She pressed the orb to her breast. It was precious, beautiful, a treasure, and she wished always to keep it close, to keep it safe. A quick, sharp pain flashed through her, as the orb melted into her body. Warmth and peace settled into her, and a sudden burst of energy like nothing she’d ever experienced.  
  
“Daughter,” the voice rumbled. “I give you greeting. We shall get on well, I think.”  
  
And so she had gained her wings, and freedom.  
  
\--- o ---  
  
In the blue twilight of the cave, she had dreamed away the years. The past was grief and betrayal, her child lost to madness, her life’s work destroyed. Only one friend had stood beside her, believed in her, mentored her. And he, like all her family and friends, had died. She wandered the cavern, listening to the echoes of his voice. This place was his discovery, yet he had shared it with her. How could she ever repay him for his kindness and his teaching?  
  
The Lord of Entropy gifted her with strength and stamina, but not purpose. She required no earthly sustenance, taking nourishment from wind under her wings and sunlight on her skin. Each time she took flight, she gained in skill; slowly, her battered spirit healed. The crystal cave remained her home, while she ventured farther and farther, sailing by night on silver wings.  
  
On one such night she crossed the sea, and found the broken bones of the ruined city. At its feet, a new community had taken root, had grown and blossomed. She knew no one here, and all of the resources she had accumulated in life were gone. But she was rich in magic, and as she soared above the bright spires and brilliant lights of the young city, she found a familiar thing: A name she knew, blazoned on a white building that rose against the sky.  
  
_Shinra_.  
  
Shinra, author of all her sorrow! They lived still, and in luxury. No doubt their hands were wrapped about the city, their schemes woven throughout its foundation. Why should they profit where others had fallen? Why should they not pay for the loss of everything she had loved? She could level this tower, bring the Shinra down, and have revenge for all she had suffered.  
  
“Daughter,” came the basso voice. “It is not the time of Ending.”  
  
“Does it matter?” Her voice, so little used, felt thick with unshed tears. “I deserve justice!”  
  
“Justice is a mortal concern, and you are no longer fully human. Death and destruction are not the only answers to your pain.”  
  
“Why not?” She settled on the ledge of the white building, near a wide window that looked into a spacious apartment. “It was an effective tool for the Shinra. To turn it against them would be delicious irony, and well-deserved.”  
  
“I know your sorrows well,” said her demon. “Look there! Who do you see?”  
  
Lucrecia peered into the apartment, furnished all in white and grey. A man sat there, fair haired and slim, with sharp, intelligent eyes and a wry smile. Past the first bloom of youth, but still hale and handsome. She had not seen him for years, but she knew him by the lines of his face.  
  
“Rufus Shinra. A man in his prime.” He still lived, unlike her son, who had died so young.  
  
“Is this the man who took your son away?”  
  
“No,” she admitted with reluctance. “That was Hojo, acting on the orders of Rufus’s father.” Hojo: Her colleague, her husband, her tormentor. She had dismissed him from her thoughts.  
  
“Is this the man who failed to protect you?”  
  
“Of course not!” She tossed her head. “That was Vincent, and I’ve forgiven him for that.” Too trusting, too blinded by infatuation to see the danger he’d stirred, he’d paid a price almost too horrible to bear.  
  
“And is this the man who killed your son?”  
  
“N-no. That was a younger man, a boy, really.” So very young, with hair as golden as the sun and eyes of mako blue. How many times had she seen him in her dreams? Sephiroth in his madness had hurt him cruelly, and killed so many others. The blond youth had given him the mercy of death. “Even he,” she sighed, “I cannot hate.”  
  
“Then, daughter, stay your hand! I did not grant you the use of my powers to harm the innocent.”  
  
“Are any of us innocent? Can any Shinra be without sin?”  
  
“That is not mine to judge,” said the deep, dry voice. “You are my chosen vessel. My only concern is my own task.” He took control from her, sweeping her back across the sea to her cave.  
  
She wept in frustration, brooding for hours at the edge of the mako pool. Here her guardian-lover had sat, gazing for hours at her dreaming form. Here, her mentor had walked, father of that lost lover. Her truest friend, who had made her his equal in his life’s work, who had delighted as she did in scientific inquiry, in puzzling out the secrets of Gaia itself.  
  
He, who had given his life to save hers, should have a fitting tribute to honor his sacrifice and his contributions to the world. But how could she accomplish this? She had nothing material, after so long hidden away in enchanted sleep. One needed money, always, to make anything worthwhile happen! To whom could she appeal?  
  
Lucrecia looked inward, gazing into the demon’s golden eyes. What she read there brought fresh tears to her own eyes. “Vincent is dead, isn’t he?”  
  
“Yes. Of course.” The demon’s clipped answer made her stop and think.  
  
“He got away from you, didn’t he? You didn’t let him go--he escaped!”  
  
Laughter bubbled up in her throat--her own. The demon certainly didn’t share it, grumbling and hissing like a faulty steam engine.  
  
“He has gone into the Lifestream, and much joy may it bring him!”  
  
“I am certain it will. Is it usual for an immortal being to hold grudges? I thought that was a human trait,” she said, amused.  
  
“I am sure I don’t know what you mean.”  
  
“So he found peace at last,” said Lucrecia. “I would like to know it myself.”  
  
“You have slept away many years. Is that not enough? I require your service.”  
  
“Is that so?” She bristled, feeling as though she had not fully woken until now.  
  
The demon’s true colors were showing at last. He had not come to her in compassion and generosity; he had taken her to use for his own purposes, needing a human to bear him through the mortal world.  
  
Within, she could speak to him in quasi-human form. And she could strike him, so she did, full across his face, with a crack that resounded through the cavern.  
  
“How dare you presume to use me! You’re no better than Shinra!”  
  
He flickered wildly, red as blood, black as sin, wings flaring wide above him. “Mortal, take care! I could crush you with one finger!”  
  
To her own surprise, she only laughed harder. “Then you’d have to find another vessel, wouldn’t you? And who in this world would ever accept you, or understand you, as I do?”  
  
He looked down his nose at her, his form holding something of Vincent, and something of Lucrecia herself, for he had no body of his own, but only copied that of his human hosts.  
  
“You are just like Valentine, obstinate and willful! No one stands against me!”  
  
“I do,” she said, calm and sure. “If Vincent did, then so can I. You may possess my body, but you can’t possess my will, now that I see you for what you really are. I should never have forgotten that you are the reason I lost my friend and mentor.”  
  
“That was simple mischance,” Chaos huffed. “You cannot hold that against me!”  
  
“I can, and I shall. From this moment onward, if you don’t treat me with respect, I will fight you every step of the way.  
  
“Or have you forgotten, my lord Chaos, that I have studied Chaos theory? I know you, I know mako, and I will hold out through sheer human stubbornness.”  
  
She laid a hand against her breast. “I know what you placed inside of me. I don’t belong to you - you are mine.”  
  
He railed and hissed and ranted, bating his wings like a furious falcon, screaming curses that smoked in the air. She stood unmoved, arms crossed, tapping her foot.  
  
“I am also a mother,” she said. “A mother’s curse is a potent thing. Shall we test this theory as well, oh Entropy?”  
  
He stopped flailing about, backing away. Nothing that lived was immune to such a spell, and he did have a kind of life.  
  
“I am necessary to the fate of this world,” he said, attempting to regain his dignity. “If you know Chaos theory, then you know this is true!”  
  
“I would not destroy you,” said Lucrecia. “Indeed I’m certain that I can’t. But I can send you back to whatever hell you sprang from, bind you there until the day of Ending, and keep you silent!”  
  
 She smiled as he shuddered. “Or we might make an agreement, for I’ve had an idea.”  
  
“Oh?” He looked away, not to seem too eager. “What is it?”  
  
“I need to acquire funds…for a project.”  
  
“But you don’t need riches,” Chaos said. “I keep you in excellent health, and you have never been interested in such things before.”  
  
“It’s not for myself. I shall make a bargain with you, my lord. Aid me in this by bearing me where I wish to go. Allow me the use of your powers of persuasion, where necessary. Do this for me, and I will cooperate with you for as long as I may live.”  
  
“A tempting offer,” said Chaos, who had loathed his daily battles with Valentine. They wore on his spirit, and drained his energy, bound as it was to a mortal frame. “What is your project? I warn you I will not aid you in vengeance.”  
  
“I don’t seek vengeance, only honor for one whose death preserved my life. Do I have your promise to respect my primacy and my privacy?”  
  
“Yes, yes, you have my word. Now tell me what you are about!”  
  
“I’ll explain later. Let us go now.”  
  
“Where to?”  
  
“To visit Rufus Shinra.”  
  
\--- o ---  
  
Locked doors and armed guards were no deterrent for one who could fly. Lucrecia set down on the balcony outside of Rufus Shinra’s apartment, using magic to breach the doors. A shotgun barrel greeted her, with Rufus on the other end of it.  
  
“Who are you, and what do you want?”  
  
“I am Doctor Lucrecia Crescent. I wish to speak with you, young Shinra.”  
  
His blue eyes, clear as a summer sky, studied her ageless face. “Surely it’s not possible. Doctor Crescent disappeared many years ago. Are you her daughter?”  
  
“I never had a daughter,” she said, with a sad smile. “Only a son, Sephiroth, called the Silver General, who I am told is dead.”  
  
“He is,” said Rufus, keeping his distance and his weapon. “Have you come to exact revenge? A life for a life, mine for your son’s?”  
  
“I will not lie to you. I did wish to kill, in the name of my beloved son.” She held her head high, refusing to shed the tears that burned at the back of her eyes. “But I have been counseled otherwise, and now that I see you, alone in this cold luxury, I feel no hatred. Only pity.”  
  
For Chaos had given her the ability to sense fear, sorrow, loneliness…or maybe it was only her own experience that had woken empathy for this man. Just as Vincent’s death had bequeathed Chaos to Lucrecia, so had this man inherited his father’s earthly power. His legacy was wealth and influence, but unlike her, he had no one with which to share it.  
  
She, at least, had the demon’s company.  
  
She pushed his gun aside with a gentle hand. “You will not need this, I mean you no harm.”  
  
He had scowled at her mention of pity, but now he set the gun aside. “I’ve studied the images, heard the recorded voice. It seems that you are truly Lucrecia Crescent. How can this be?”  
  
“I bear within me the legacy of Gast.” Hojo, she would not name. “The cells of the creature, Jenova, preserved my life. By the grace of dark mako, I slept the years away, until there came to me a being of such power that I could not resist waking.”  
  
“And that being, was it--?”  
  
“Chaos,” she said, stepping back a pace while her wings unfurled and her eyes shimmered gold. “You see.” At her breast a white star shone, throwing spangles of light across Rufus’s face.  
  
He trembled, but stood his ground. “And what can Chaos, in any form, require of me? Is it the end of the world so soon?”  
  
“No,” said Lucrecia. She folded back her wings and let them subside into her body. “That is still eons away. I have a request to make of you.”  
  
He gave her a bow, in irony and deference. “Well, then, sit with me, take refreshment, and tell me how I may serve you.”  
  
Lucrecia accepted a glass of sweet white wine, and sat beside Rufus on velvet cushions. Chaos, she knew, listened as well, lurking at the back of her mind, for she had shut the doors to her innermost thoughts. Bound by his promise to respect her wishes, he had not tried to discern them.  
  
“Here is my request. Create a school, dedicated to science, especially that of the earth itself. A school that seeks to learn the inmost secrets of Gaia, not to conquer, but so that we may preserve our precious world for as long as we are able. Make it a priority to recruit girls to this school, so that they have the same opportunities to learn and advance that we offer to boys.”  
  
Rufus swirled the wine in his own glass. “That is not such a bad idea. I have no objection to it. And shall I name it after you?”  
  
“No. It is to be named for Doctor Grimoire Valentine, whose research into Chaos theory gave me my life’s work. If you will do this for me, Rufus Shinra, I will return to my studies, and whatever beneficial things I learn, I will give to you. I ask only that you use them for the protection of all life, rather than its detriment. Let us prevent the coming of the end for as long as possible.”  
  
Rufus looked away, his eyes drawn to a portrait that hung on the opposite wall. The man pictured there glowered, his prideful gaze and disdainful mouth in stark contrast to the pensive expression on his son’s face. Beside it was mounted a small mirror in a plain black frame.  
  
“I keep that to remind me of the hazards of power,” said Rufus, gesturing to the painting and the mirror. “To warn me, should ego and hubris overtake me. The day that I see the same cruelty and selfishness in my own face will be the day that I die. I have sworn this on my mother’s grave.”  
  
Both Chaos and Lucrecia bowed. “Then perhaps we may work together.”  
  
“Indeed, it will be an honor as well as a challenge.” Rufus extended his hand. “I will do as you ask. Will you accept my word, my lady Chaos?”  
  
“I will.” She took his hand, pleased by its strength and steadiness.  
  
With his other hand, he held his glass aloft. “To Doctor Grimoire Valentine. May his legacy be a light to the world.”  
  
Gladly she matched his toast. “Doctor Valentine. May he rest in peace, my old friend.”  
  
“But not your only friend,” said Rufus. “If you permit?”  
  
“We shall see,” said Lucrecia. “The years of my life will be long. There may yet be adventures and surprises ahead.”  
  
In the shadows of her mind, Chaos grinned, his fangs sharp and gleaming. “Oh, indeed there will be! And that, my host, I do swear!”  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes a little bit from My Friend, Goodbye (written with WandererRiha) and sort of goes off in another direction ;)


End file.
